Home From the Sea, Part 1

We had a great get away this week, spending three nights at the family cabin at Rockaway Beach on the Oregon Coast. 

On Monday the drive down was cloudy and drizzly. We made a lunch stop and then a coffee stop in Warrington, on the Oregon side of the Columbia after crossing the bridge at Astoria.  We made our usual stop at the overlook on Neakanie Mountain. No blue sky and sea today, but it wasn't raining here.

 It was mid afternoon when we arrived at the cabin. We unloaded the car and then went for a walk on the beach before the rain set in.

Tuesday morning didn't look to bad from the front porch of the cabin, but we knew the squalls were lined up out over the ocean.

 We decided to spend the day prowling around and dodging the squalls, which, when they hit, bring pounding rain and fierce winds. We spent some time at an antique mall in Wheeler, and then enjoyed the view over Nehalem Bay. 

 Then we decided to stop at the Jetty Fishery and see about buying a crab for dinner. They were busy cooking and cleaning someone's catch.  We picked out a two pounder from the live tank, and then waited for the poor fellow to get cooked in the tank.That string with the blue tag hanging out of the cook pot is our dinner. 

 This is a view of the mouth of Nehalem Bay, behind the cook shack.

 The crab innards and shell are just returned to the water. The gulls are waiting. 

 There he is. 

Watching the process, I had a new experience. I was offered the crab heart, so I ate it. It is small, white and star shaped, like this.

Since we had crab for dinner, we had to get the rest of the fixings so we drove into Tillamook to the Fred Meyer store to get salad, bread, and a Washington wine we like. Then we stopped at  Blue Heron Cheese to get their  brie. They have a new sculpture, an enormous heron!

 Dinner was yummy.

 And as the sun set between squalls the sky lit up.

It was a good day.